


A New Remembrance

by Firestorm717



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Bathing/Washing, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:22:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22610113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Firestorm717/pseuds/Firestorm717
Summary: Before the end, Shepard invites Thane to share a sensual bath at the Citadel.
Relationships: Thane Krios/Female Shepard
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21
Collections: Chocolate Box - Round 5





	A New Remembrance

**Author's Note:**

  * For [motherherbivore (Airheart)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Airheart/gifts).



The sun had just touched the horizon, where the golden desert sands met the shimmering blue sky, when Thane spotted the man-made pool in the center of the oasis. It was a swimming pool carved into the parched ground, its synthetic walls artfully hidden by the lush ferns and blood orange flowers that ringed its circumference. However, the clean-cut granite steps leading into its depths belied the illusion, a reminder to any visitor that all this natural scenery was simply a reproduction on the Citadel holo-deck.

“Well, what do you think?” Smiling, Shepard squeezed her lover’s arm.

“Siha, this is… unexpected.”

“It’s not the best holo, true, but the library only had one vid-disc of Rakhana. They had to piece together the rest of this from New Mexico resort photos.”

Indeed, against the faux desert backdrop, there was the distinct neon glow of a Motel 6 sign.

Thane shook his head. “No, I do not mean the landscape. It is beautiful.” His large black eyes blinked twice, then flicked from Shepard to the pool. “I am simply surprised that you took all this trouble to reserve, on your Day of St. Valentine, a private session in a bathing pool among all the Citadel’s entertainments.”

Shepard raised an eyebrow. “You don’t like it.”

“That is not what I said.” Thane puffed out his throat. Releasing Shepard’s arm, he sat down on an Indian red boulder beneath a frond.

“It’s what you meant.” When Thane did not respond, Shepard sat down beside him and laid a hand on his shoulder. “Come on. Just half an hour. A dip in the pool, and then we can have some fun together.” She traced a sensual pattern on the nape of Thane’s neck.

Gently, Thane detached himself from Shepard. “Siha, I have the utmost affection for you, as I know you do for me. But please, show me that affection through your honesty.” He paused and looked into Shepard’s dark brown eyes. “I know you’ve been speaking to Dr. Tanis about my… condition.”

“Then, you must know what he recommended.”

“I do not need palliative care. Meditation and prayer are enough to control the symptoms.” Thane coughed wetly into his hand, his whole chest heaving for a minute.

“But not to ease the pain.” Reaching over, Shepard rubbed the iridescent green skin over Thane’s ribcage until the bout of coughing abated. “Why won’t you take the medicinal bath? Dr. Tanis says it was developed specifically by the hanar to reduce the muscle aches and weakness for sufferers of Kepral’s Syndrome.”

Thane pursed his lips at the last two words. “Those do not affect me.” That was a blatant lie, of course – in their stroll around the holo-deck, Thane twice had to stop and lean on Shepard, coughing until his entire chest throbbed. “Besides, immersion in water will only aggravate my lungs.”

“You just have to hold your breath for a second. Here, let me show you.” Standing up, Shepard tugged Thane toward the pool.

“Shepard!”

Shepard froze, shocked by the sudden rise in her lover’s voice. Thane was a coiled spring of tension, his jaw hard as a rock, his grip like a vise around her hand. His eyelids were completely still, and he stared up at Shepard with twin large, unblinking black orbs. Shepard recognized that look – it was the same look Thane had before he confronted the wayward Kolyat. Not anger, no, but apprehension and…

“Thane, what are you afraid of?”

Thane flinched and turned away, realizing he’d revealed too much. “I am sorry,” he said quietly. “I cannot join you.”

Shepard allowed her hand linger on Thane’s shoulder for a few more moments, but when Thane refused to respond, she reluctantly let go. It was clear Thane didn’t wish to speak about what was bothering him. In the past few weeks, he’d grown distant, even irritable on occasion – he once lashed out at a pushy Citadel doctor – which was why Shepard had arranged for this day’s shore leave. She’d hoped a romantic interlude would encourage Thane to open up… and perhaps continue treatment for her sake.

Instead, it seemed her efforts had only brought back a painful memory connected with the waters. An eidetic memory that flickered just behind Thane’s stony expression.

Sighing, Shepard said, “Alright.” She began unbuttoning her jacket as she headed toward the pool. “I’ll take a quick dip and then we can go. Wouldn’t want to waste the reservation.”

Thane watched as Shepard dove into the deep end of the pool, her powerful arms flexing with each stroke through the water. It only took her a few seconds to reach the far end. She surfaced, her back a perfect arch, and ran her fingers through her jet black hair, the sun glinting like fire in her pale hazel eyes. She was…magnificent. Truly one of Arashu’s chosen – the fiercest and most commanding siha he’d ever known. Thane gave thanks every day for the privilege to have served her.

And to have earned her love.

…Except their time was coming to an end. Thane had known that, prepared for that, meditated and prayed to every goddess for their relief, yet his heart still clenched at the thought of losing Shepard – as it did now, seeing her so happy and carefree, the smile on her tan face standing in stark contrast to the blaster scar that marred her shoulder. Thane blinked, mesmerized by that scar, the way it undulated on Shepard’s sleek muscles as she somersaulted and swam to the other side of the pool. 

Rising, he took a step toward her, but then stopped, his desire for her warring with his fear of the memories that the water would awaken. Memories that would unveil his weakness beside Shepard’s strength.

Glancing up at Thane, Shepard asked, “Would you pass me the shampoo?”

The innocent request snapped Thane out of his reverie.

“On the table disguised as a squat blue fern.” Shepard gestured with one hand toward the east end of the oasis. There, behind a few lounge chairs, stood a toiletry cabinet artfully carved to resemble the neighboring flora.

“Of course, siha.”

Thane brought the shampoo bottle to Shepard at the stairs.

“Thank you.” 

Unclipping her bun, Shepard let her long black hair cascade down to her waist, just below the surface of the water. “Hold this for me, will you?” She pressed the hair clip into Thane’s palm, her fingers lingering for a few seconds longer than necessary.

An electric thrill leaped through Thane like a hanar’s tentacles through water. He nodded and pocketed the clip.

“Do you need anything else?” Thane asked, as he watched Shepard pour shampoo onto her hair. Tilting her head back, Shepard shot him a crooked smile. A trail of soapy bubbles trickled down her graceful neck and pooled at her collarbone. “Perhaps help with, ah… washing your hair?”

Shepard just managed to suppress her mirth enough to arch an inquisitive eyebrow. “Thane, are you coming on to me?”

“Forgive me, if – if you wish to have some privacy, I can leave and – ”

“Oh, get over here already.” Looping an arm around Thane’s waist, Shepard pulled her lover into a kiss. “I didn’t hack Avina for this Valentine’s Day reservation just to bathe alone,” she murmured against Thane’s cheek.

Desire surged through Thane like a tidal wave. Suddenly, the pool, the water, all his fears seemed… faraway. “As you command, siha.” He dipped his head and smiled.

Shepard leaned back into Thane’s strong fingers, as he gently rubbed the shampoo into her scalp. It was so good to finally spend intimate time together. With the trial, the Reapers, and all the missions in between, she’d barely had a moment to herself – let alone with Thane, confined to the Citadel as he was. Reaching back, Shepard caressed her lover’s silky arm and brought the glistening green palm to her lips. The corners of Thane’s eyes lifted in a smile. His hands dropped to Shepard’s shoulders, and the next thing Shepard knew, she was enjoying the deepest, most sensuous massage she’d ever known.

“God, Thane, you are _good_ at this,” she purred and arched into her lover’s bare chest. “The hanar really missed out on turning you into a masseuse.”

Thane laughed softly, his breath whistling feather-light by Shepard’s ear. “But then I would not have met you.”

“Don’t be so sure. I’ve crossed star systems – ahhh, right there – for hands less skilled than yours.”

“Those hands were undeserving of a siha.”

Shepard groaned as a particularly deft twist of Thane’s fingers loosened a knot in her neck that had been plaguing her for ages. Leaning back, she pulled Thane’s head down so their lips were separated by a mere inch, bodies pressed together from shoulders to toe.

“And you? What makes you think you deserve me?” she teased, eyelids lowering seductively.

“Nothing.” Thane’s cheeks glowed lime green – the drell’s version of a blush. “I only hope to bring a gleam to your warrior’s eye.”

“You mean heart.”

The two leaned in at the same time for a sweet and passionate kiss.

Quickly, Shepard divested Thane of his leather jacket, eager to run her hands over her lover’s sleek, beautiful muscles. She nibbled on his neck, drawing a soft gasp, which turned into a moan when she traced her tongue along the red ridges of Thane’s throat. Damn Mordin’s warnings. She’d take sex-induced hallucinations if it meant making Thane melt like this everyday. Thane’s arms moved down to loop around Shepard’s waist, and he returned the favor by caressing the small of her back, drawing a powerful shiver. Together, they moved deeper into the water, with Thane following Shepard’s lead, touching and stroking and kissing each other until they were a soapy tangle of limbs and laughter.

“Mmm, I think it’s time I lathered you up.” Grinning, Shepard scooped up a frothy pile of bubbles and rubbed it down Thane’s abdomen.

“Ahh, siha...”

Thane pulled his lover into a passionate kiss, fiery and full of need as he rarely was with anyone. When Shepard wrapped a leg around his waist, he helped hoist her up with one arm – but lost his grip on the edge of the pool with the other, and in a flash, slipped deep underwater.

_Cold. Shadow. The suffocating pressure of the saltwater._

_“Thane! Thane, where are you?”_

_He opened his mouth, tried to form words, but only a stream of bubbles emerged._

_“Oh Arashu, please save my little one!”_

_The sea is a gag over his mouth, a lead weight in his lungs. It steals his breath and leaves him to drown in its terrible, thick, all-encompassing darkness._

_“Hiraka, I’m sorry.”_

_“No, Thane, Thane...”_

“Thane!”

At Shepard’s voice, Thane jolts abruptly out of his flashback. He’s lying on dry ground beside a pool… a pool in the Citadel’s holo-deck. Not the ocean. And the woman who called his name, that was his lover, his siha –

“Shepard,” Thane managed to say before his chest spasmed with wet, raspy coughs.

“Shhh, relax. You’re alright. You were just reliving a memory.”

Taking a few breaths, Thane finally quelled his lungs. “How much… did I say?”

“That’s not important.”

“Shepard!”

Shepard hesitated, but seeing the distress on her lover’s face, she reluctantly confessed. “You thought you were drowning. And you called for someone named Hiraka.” There was a pause. “Was that your...”

“My mother.” Thane’s shoulders slumped, defeated. He turned away when Shepard reached a hand out for him, eyes lowered in disgrace. “I had hoped you wouldn’t see me like this, especially on such a special lover’s day. That is why I did not wish to bathe in the pool.”

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of, Thane. It was a childhood accident. We were all children once.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Thane replied sharply. Getting up, he started to pace beneath the palm tree, his fluid movements occasionally interrupted by a cough. “The incident... that time I waded too far into the ocean, beyond my mother’s grasp, it’s just one small memory among many. Not even comparable to the ones of pain and death that I caused.”

“Yet it’s come back to haunt you.”

Thane shot Shepard a sharp look, but then nodded. “Yes. Since my illness has advanced, it’s become recurrent – triggered by a salt scent, a touch of sand, the feeling of water engulfing my face.” He paused, recalling the last time he woke in the hospital bed, his lungs drowning in fluid. “I should be able to face this memory. I’ve been doing it my entire life. But recently, the fear it brings… the fear of death…” Stopping, Thane hid his face in his hands. “I don’t know why it’s become unbearable, even with you by my side.”

Gently, Shepard took Thane’s hands in her own and brushed the tears from her lover’s cheek. “Thane, I’ve never known you to be afraid of death. However, losing a loved one...” Understanding dawned in Thane’s large glistening black eyes. “That’s a fear we all share.”

“Siha...” Voice shaking, Thane reached out to cup his lover’s face.

“So let’s overcome it together, hm? By making new memories of the sea.” Shepard smiled, even as a lump formed in her own throat. “Or what passes as one on the holo-deck.”

“After everything’s over, we’ll meet at the real sea.”

“Beneath the waters.”

Thane shook his head. “Across. I’ll wait for you… across the sea.”

They came together like twin stars in the cosmos, the passion of their union so bright that it set the desert ablaze well into the night and burned through the early morning.

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn't sure how to avoid terminal illness, since Thane is canonically dying, but I hope the sexy bath and love confession make up for it!


End file.
